The invention relates to a converter appliance capacitor assembly which has at least one capacitor and can be attached by means of side mechanical holders to a base frame of the converter appliance or to a heat sink.
A capacitor assembly for a converter appliance has been proposed in German patent application P 198 13 365.0, in which a central, metallic multifunction housing part, which is connected directly to the heat sink of the power semiconductors, is connected to the capacitors such that it makes thermal contact. The driver circuits for the power semiconductors and the control and regulating arrangement of the converter appliance are located above the capacitors. These components are connected to the multifunction housing part via attachment devices required for this purpose. The multifunction housing part can be designed with or without a power busbar system.
A modular system for forming converter appliances of different power and with different types of cooling is known from DE 196 28 549 A1. In this case, a large number of individual capacitors are combined to form capacitor groups and are attached via holding plates to the cooler of the converter appliance.
A circuit arrangement for operation of at least one battery-powered electric motor in an industrial truck is known from DE 44 12 407 A1. In this case, at least one row of capacitors is arranged on a mounting body, which is connected to the cooler of a converter appliance.
A power converter having a capacitor assembly is known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,729,450. In this case, a large number of individual capacitors are attached by means of side holding plates to the frame of the converter. The electrical connections arranged on the front faces of the capacitors are connected to busbars.
The invention is based on the object of specifying a converter appliance capacitor assembly, which allows the converter appliance to have an extremely compact design.
This object is achieved by a converter appliance capacitor assembly which is designed as a load-bearing component of the converter appliance and has at least one front or side mechanical electrical connection and measurement sensor holder for making contact with external power connections, such as an electrical power supply and load connections.
The advantages which can be achieved by the invention are, in particular, that the proposed converter appliance capacitor assembly makes it possible to design a converter appliance such that space is saved, the weight is reduced and costs are reduced. Since the converter appliance capacitor assembly is itself designed as the load-bearing component of the converter appliance, there is no need whatsoever for the mechanical supporting and auxiliary frames which are normally generally used for converter appliances. A further advantage is that the converter appliance capacitor assembly can be disassembled for recycling.
One advantageous refinement of the invention is for at least one electronic circuitxe2x80x94preferably a drive circuit for power semiconductorsxe2x80x94to be attached to the front mechanical holder. This embodiment assists the idea of the invention of allowing the capacitor assembly to be designed as compactly as possible.
The mechanical holder can be arranged at the front or side with respect to the capacitor. Depending on the spatial requirements, it may in this case be advantageous for a number of individual holders to be provided at the side of the capacitor. This means that the converter appliance capacitor assembly according to the invention can be used for a large number of spatial requirements.